Hello, hello! It's oh so good to be back. thehippo8 had me shut up in the cellar for a couple weeks, but I finally found out he never locked the door. Speaking of which, we have an interview from our dear Foundry Executive as we continue our series of interrogations of the Newsletter Executives. Next issue we have Tournament Executive, Dukasaur, followed by Clan Executive, Leehar!

Well, what's news these days? A number of maps have recently been quenched, including Patch Wars and Cuban Missile Crisis, and still more have finally hit Beta, including Dark Continent and Trench Warfare. Ha, how 'bout a Trench game on Trench Warfare? In other news, former Conqueror and apparent five-thousand, twenty-fifth rapper, mc05025, blipped back on the radar as he briefly took the throne from well-known "bog-roller" apparent oral sex enthusiast, Gen.LeeGettinhed earlier this week.

And perhaps the saddest news this fortnight: I am ending our "Subscriber of the Issue" award. Sadly, only a couple users actually got their medals! But I've some good news for you for next issue! The Dispatch has partnered up with webmaster and resident turtle, lackattack, so expect an article from him next issue!

As for this issue, Viceroy63 and myself have conjured up an exciting article and discussion (that I hope you'll participate in!) about moderation, thehippo8 gives us a little history lesson on the 3rd of June, Dukasaur has an exciting "Meet the Tournament Directors" interview with Tournament Commissioner, Night Strike, along side another insightful edition of DaveH's Tournament Tips, Gunn217 has the latest clan standings, and Viceroy63 has partnered up with Academy Headmaster, dhallmeyer, to write a new column called, "Inside the SoC".

We are actively seeking Writers and Reporters! The Tournament News Team is in particular need of Tournament Reporters! For your service as a Writer or Reporter, we'll give you a General Contribution medal every three months of solid contribution! So what are you waiting for?! Apply now!

If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!

Hello again Freestyle readers. Hope your finals went/are going well, and that you all are looking forward to a good summer. We have another scum insider and an interrogation with thehippo8 for you this issue. Also, a thought provoking article on the nature and scope of moderating. It should be interesting reading and definitely something open to community input.

As always, if you would like to write for the freestyle section or have any good article ideas, please send me a PM.

Want to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia NewsIn Play the Mod Mafia, things have really begun to heat up. After a relatively quiet Day 1 where there was only 1 modkill, Day 2 saw 3 people being modkilled. Along with the apparent revelation that the mod can tamper with night actions, the remaining townies must be very wary about breaking post restrictions.

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

Advanced Roles and Strategy by safariguy5A mafia tactic to stall until deadline is discussed this issue.

Stalling the Lynch Wagon

What is It?Stalling a lynch wagon means that a player will purposely try to divert attention away from the person who is close to being lynched by introducing another case. This is timed to be close to the deadline, and hopefully will be able to split the vote and force a no lynch.

ExampleIt takes 9 votes to lynch and Jim has 7 votes on him. Bob introduces a case on Alice to try and get people to not vote Jim. Hopefully, Bob can stall the voting long enough to force a no lynch due to deadline.

How to Use this StrategyStalling the Lynch Wagon is usually a Mafia strategy because generally mafia players will want to keep their fellow mafia buddies alive. However, this strategy can bring some unwanted attention the next day, especially if done too blatantly, so mafia may try to step in and defend a townie to WIFOM the situation. Alternatively, two linked town players like lovers or masons may try to save each other without being forced to claim who they are.

Community Report: What It Means To Be A Moderatorby Victor Sullivan and Viceroy63

Ahoy, ahoy, readers! Welcome to the first edition of the Community Report! Here, we ask a question to a group of users, see what they said, then write our own blurb about the topic. Then, we open the floor to you, dear readers! Who do you agree with? Disagree with? What do you think of the question? What should we ask next? We'll have a designated topic for you to post your thoughts!

This fortnight, we discuss the question, What does it mean to be a moderator? Let's take a look at what our participants in the survey said...

Victor SullivanEntertainment Moderator

To me? Well, for me, it means to be helpful as much as you can. That's why I personally help in 3 different area's. It has it's downsides, but it feels good knowing that I help out the site in a good way. You gotta be level-headed, yet find a way to have fun with it.

I think that a more clear definition of what it means to be a Mod needs to be very precisely written down and adhere to. We are here to serve, not just the owner/owners of the site but also the community in general and we can't do that by setting a bad example or entertaining arguments or letting the fact that we are Mods with Mod "Powers" get to our heads and puff us up in pride. And if we can't do that then we should step down.

Viceroy63Entertainment Moderator

What does it mean?

It means trying to see the other person's point of view, trying to understand what has happened or might happen, why a person does what they do and how to avoid hurting a person's feelings while remaining fair, balanced and yet maintaining the rules of the site. It means trying to be patient and understanding, fair but firm, leading by example, while still retaining a sense of humour even during your rough days.. It means trying not to favour anyone and to treat everyone the same regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them. It means being patient and willing to support your team members, point out where there can be improvements and be willing to discuss things rationally and reasonably. What it means is treating others the way you would like to see them act and to be what you want the site to be... That's what being a mod means

trinicardinalHead Live Chat Moderator

Honestly? Free premium

Kidding. I wouldn't be here if that was just it . Being a moderator is a great balancing act, and as Dr. Seuss would say, we must step with great care and great tact. You learn quickly that you both have to know when to listen to the community on feedback and accept your failures, and learn when someone's just mad because it hadn't happened in their favor. The greatest part about moderating is making the difference, as cliche as that sounds. Believe it or not, we do have the community's best interests in mind -- though some will probably tell you otherwise ! The absolute best part is helping a new member around. Guiding them through the Strategy and Add-ons forums and so on, giving them help with all of the generic beginner questions, etc. I try to be to new members what I had when I first joined -- a helpful network of people who liked to play the game and watch others do well at it!

I am not very active anymore in the forums or on this site, due to much of the moderation. I am not sure if I am the best person to engage about moderation, as I have no experience actually moderating a forum. I have seen the results of less than professional moderation, and that is why the forums here are pretty quiet and boring.

As for what I think it means to moderate, it would be most like a life quard job. You sit quietly, overlooking the swimmers, making sure rules are followed and one person's (or group's) fun doesn't infringe on the other swimmers.However, you don't jump in the pool to start splashing and dunking while "on duty". You should be held to a higher standard as a poster than a general member. (Night Strike is the worst offender of this, although I agree with him politically, I think he gets too involved in the forums). If you want to play in the pool, stop moderating.

Of course, this doesn't go for the "lesser mods" that run the entertainment or foundry sides of the forum. They have been picked for activity and interest. They are more of a guide or a crossing guard, helping people get to their goal safely and within the rules.

jbrettlipCommunity Member

What it means to be a moderator to Phatscotty. I can only base my input on my experience, which has been mostly with discussion moderators, so that is where most of this will originate.

ObjectivityA moderator should understand and always be conscious that they are operating in a diverse environment, and it's that reality that needs to take precedent for a modus operandi based on objectivity, and not personal prejudice. While I admit there is no person or group that can always be 100% objective, either people are trying to strive for objectivity, or they are moving away from the principle of fairness and setting previous differences and bias aside. Basically, one who moderates should aim to treat everyone as similarly as possible based on clear and agreed upon definitions and examples.

DefinitionsMods should have clear definitions provided for them to moderate with. I do not know the inner workings or the jargon of the moderator class, but I would imagine that they might/should get together and discuss as many of the more complex issues at hand as possible in an organized manner and have some kind of consensus on what is going to be done. Definitions should hold as true as possible and should not be bent to suit certain cases. I won't state that with 100% certitude, as I am certain there have been many interesting exceptions and can only leave that to the imagination.

ExamplesI have to assume that a large number of the more "messy" incidents have a lot to do with "Well, PosterA said xyz and was reported for flaming but nothing happened, and what PosterB posted does not even come close to PosterA, therefore either it would be a mistake to rule against B, or else there was a mistake that PosterA should have been ruled against but was not, and try to find the answer in the middle.

RulingsI think the goal should be to make the community better in a constructive way. The goal should not be to get people into trouble, and to ban someone should (at least somewhat) mean your honest efforts to personally warn people/peoples involved have failed on a certain level. Granted there are those who just do not care about the rules or don't care about being banned, banishment should be a last resort, when all other diplomacy has failed. There are probably some mods who take reports into their own hands, ask people who may have went too far to edit something or take it down, try to moderate the issue personally, friendly warnings, and even just working the situation out through private messaging. I would respect that and I'm sure many other people would too. If a private discussion does not solve or simmer down the issue, then it should be discussed amongst other moderators and be brought to the next level.

EthosI think the mod community should try to focus on the mission at hand. Mods should aim to make the community a better place, based on a love for the website and all the aspects of it, and to promote it as a fair, clean, and welcome place. Mods should not seek to abuse their power, push their agenda, take revenge, or use the honor as a tool for their own personal preferences. Mods should aim to make sure that rules are understood as clearly as possible beforehand, hopefully with an eye on prevention. Mods should seek to make sure they are being fair and consistent, and have that checked and double checked, hopefully in an objective way. Mods should aim to be helpful and cooperative with the goal of being a problem solver, and not an executioner.

After all, a banned customer is an unhappy customer, and the possibility of escalation increases the more people think they were treated unfairly.

PhatscottyCommunity Member

What does it mean to be a moderator? Well funny you should ask that. I will provide you with three definitions of a moderator from three different websites and you can tell me what you think a moderator should be and what some of the moderators on CC actually are.

Wikipedia:

The mods are users of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion and also keeping the forum clean. Common privileges of moderators include: deleting, merging, moving, and splitting of posts and threads, locking, renaming, stickying of threads, banning, suspending, unsuspending, unbanning, warning the members, or adding, editing, removing the polls of threads. Essentially, it is the duty of the moderator to manage the day-to-day affairs of a forum or board as it applies to the stream of user contributions and interactions. The relative effectiveness of this user management directly impacts the quality of a forum in general, its appeal, and its usefulness as a community of interrelated users.

Urban Dictionary:

Someone who moderates a chatroom or message board. There are generally five types of moderators:

1. Asswipe: Moderator that likes to punish members for little or no reason, harasses members and then punishes them for harassing back or questioning them, or is an asshole in general to those around him, not including his suckup friends, who will respond to his powerabuse with: "lol", "pwned bitch", or "wut a [censored]".

2. Strict Moderator: Follows the rules by the book, no exceptions. Any rule infraction spotted will be punished, often without warning. Normally dreaded.

3. Do-Nothing Moderator: Moderator that acts more like a member than a moderator, only intervening in serious matters that require mod attention. Usually ignores rule infractions for fear of angering the administrator or stricter moderators. Usually friendly.

4. Badass: Best moderator there is. They are fair, and will usually joke around and let things go if the intention of the rule infraction was not fitting with the reason the rule was created. However, if someone is being a total idiot, especially flaming, they will proceed to argue with them for the sole purpose of getting them to make a fool of themselves, often to the point of losing their cool and posting a last "FUK U ALL!!!!!" message, at which point there is much lulz and the nooblet gets b&.

5. Nutcase: Moderator that not only rarely enforces rules, but often breaks them themselves in the name of fun, or sometimes just out of boredom. Usually doesn't have modship for long, or is constantly scolded by other mods or the admin.

Encyclopedia Dramatica:

In the world of Internet forums and messageboards, mods are the equivalent of policemen. In fact, the only difference is that they have no real authority except over their [censored] ass web sites. Ranking somewhere below administrators, they are assigned the task of ensuring the rules of the forum that they "moderate" are rigidly adhered to by the rank-and-file board membership while at the same time willfully ignoring these rules themselves. Given special powers by the board's administrators to assist them in this endeavor, it is common for these powers to be abused at a whim, and when the inevitable howls of protest follow, to use these same powers to silence dissent. In a nutshell, moderators partake in intense [censored].

There are a variety of tools that a moderator can employ in order to carry out his or her duties efficiently. These range from the basic (editing of posts, maybe even deleting of posts) to the advanced (locking of threads).These powers are there to be routinely abused; for example, a thread can be locked yet some moderators will still post on it regardless, denying a basic right of reply to the OP or the poster who apparently caused the thread to be locked in the first place.

As a result, moderators are often some of the worst internet trolls, which doesn't stop them from accusing others of trolling at every opportunity. Should a moderator start losing an argument on a thread, they will often use the aforementioned powers, in order to attempt to beat a dignified retreat. Either that, or go running to the admin.

TL;DR:

Replace "Wikipedia" with whatever forum they moderate and this is what moderators actually believe.

TheGeneral2112Community Member

I recommend that question be changed/edited to "what SHOULD it mean to be a moderator?"-a moderator should MODERATE: keep within reason and proper limits; not extreme or excessive or intense. to a medium extent, be FAIR; reduce excessiveness, preside over; restrain/control excesses; be calm and mitigate situations-should NOT take to one extreme or another: too harsh or too liberal; and NOT be biased in opinion

Two of the best I've seen were James Vasquez and Trinicardinal.

Gen.LeeGettinhedCommunity Member

Moderation! Just what is moderation?

We have all heard the expression, "All things in moderation." Why should that be? Because all things and people have certain moderate levels where they simply work the best at. Water will freeze below a certain temperature and cease to be liquid and turn into a solid, and above a certain temperature water will surely boil away and evaporate quickly into nothing but air. Outside of it's moderate zone water simply ceases to be a liquid. This is also why we seek shelter from the cold environment outside or to cool ourselves down on hot summer days. We simply function best in moderate temperatures.

And like all things, Conquer Club is no different. It functions best and to the fullest enjoyment of all of its participants when guided and moderated by certain guidelines and principles that keep us functioning within a certain moderate zone of operations. But these guidelines alone don't do the trick of moderating; we also need the moderator to fulfill these functions and keep this site enjoyable and controlled for the enjoyment of all.

Just like water turning into a solid, if left to one extreme, then no one would receive any assistance or know what to do here if it were not for the moderator. And in the other extreme Conquer Club would be a place completely out of control and undesirable to log on to, again if it were not for the moderator. It is the Moderator that control those who would make this place undesirable by having the "mod powers" to deny those certain undesirable attitudes the right to stay here and be a nuisance for us all. But that is only half the job. The other and more important part of the job is to help those who are lost to simply find their way around. And perhaps even to grow as good people of CC.

As moderators we don't just represent this Conquer Club site, we are the site. We are the ones that the rest should look to, for help to make their time here more enjoyable and satisfying. We are the one's who make it all happen here and we should only strive for perfection in this role as moderator. That means that we are doing our best when people have nice things to say about us. That is not always the case and there will always be malcontents but we can do some things to lesson the number of individuals who see us as "power-hungry mods."

As mods, we also want to enjoy our time here. Whenever we allow ourselves to be drawn into an argument or debate, we deny ourselves that small amount of time that we have to just enjoy ourselves. And for every person that we have a confrontation with there are untold others who are left with that impression of all Mods that way. No mod is perfect but we can try to be, and if we do offend anyone we can always apologize for our words spoken in the heat of passion and try and resolve any issues by simply doing that which we would expect were the shoes on the other foot. Better still is to try and not to be drawn into any debates in the first place.

Our prime directive should be...

Viceroy63 wrote:We are here to serve, not just the owner/owners of the site but also the community in general and we can't do that by setting a bad example or entertaining arguments or letting the fact that we are Mods with Mod "Powers" get to our heads and puff us up in pride. And if we can't do that then we should step down.

Simply put, a moderator is a servant who is and who makes Conquer Club the great experience that it is. Nothing more and nothing less. And while we all serve in different capacities and in different ways we should all have the exact same attitude.

Hey hippo!Thanks Saf. Incidentally an ERD (as in 73erd) is an Entity Relationship Diagram. I find them useful in everyday life. They have a beauty and essence about them that really gets you into the nitty gritty of the issues. Check out this example or erudite complexity:

I reckon it'd make a fun map!!

Q. Do you spend a lot of time lying around in shallow ponds?I am deeply superficial. I'll lay down in anything shallow!! I'll save the deep stuff for the introspective and obssessive types!

Q. What is your favorite map to play on?

Q. CC has a player called therhino3. Are you related, if not do you see him as a threat ?

Really? Well you learn something new every day. Are they interchangeable? Not everyone knows that. I tried using thesaurus in place of what but I got some really strange looks!

Q. Why is the word dictionary in the dictionary?

Ah, now this I know. My grandfather was a good friend of the man who wrote the Dictionary and he asked him this very question. Apparently some people didn't find the dictionary a good enough story, despite the fact that it's author spent the time to explain it as he went along. The word dictionary was only added as an afterthought and for a bit of humour, but the result was astounding and as you all know it hit international fame after that. It's been translated into as many languages that exist and a few that don't. And all because of that one word!

Q. When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?

Sheep are like Jerseys, they only shrink when you put them in the dryer.

Q. Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?

The owner thinks that the scum who made all the mess is still in there and they aren't letting them out until they clean up!

Q. Why do they sterilize the needles for lethal injections?

To ensure that the dose doesn't get neutralised by contaminants.

Q. Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?

To stop the lid falling off when the bumbling pall bearers drop it!

Q. Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Because psychics are always a step ahead of reporters!

Q. Which way would you go?

Thesaurus. (See, doesn't really work!)

Q. Was this you?

Yes.

or is this more likely?

I wish!

Q. Favourite novel?

Q. Favourite movie?

Q. Favourite live theatre performance?

Q. Favourite TV show?

Sully Edit: Dr. Who (picture removed due to a "malware" notification)

Q. Favourite non-fiction book?

Q.

Any relations to Henrietta Hippo?Henrietta was my cousin's girlfriend until the awful incident with the fish.

Q. I (Viceroy63) use to love her, but she was always so damn shy. Why was that?

She only pretended to be shy for the camera's. In fact she was the most outrageous flirt!

Q. With the economy being as bad as it is and prices are going through the roof on everything and all, do you find that people invite you out to eat less and less these days?

"Honey, I invited the Hippo over for dinner tonight. Just to be on the safe side, hide the children!"

Actually people invite me out more than ever now! Not everyone can afford to bring up children and it's a win-win situation for both of us.

Q. Why are you answering questions already?

Ah, well that'd be because I am stupid! Thankfully viceroy63 hit me with sufficient tranquilizers and obliterated the evidence.

Q. Why do you drink so much........water?

Eight dot water is a euphamism for wine, I'm assuming. How did you know anyway? Sometimes I drink to forget ... what was the question again?

Q. How does it feel having to come up with a funny title about yourself?

It feels kind of creepy.

Q. Why did you kill Sully and where did you hide him?

I was hungry. His clothes are round the back. [EDIT: an update on this at the end.]

Q. Did you really think we would not figure out that you got rid of him so you could publish the newsletter?

Frankly I'm surprised that it worked so well. I don't hear anyone complaining! [EDIT: an update on this at the end.]

Q. When are you going to host a newsletter themed mafia?

I'd host a newsletter themed mafia tomorrow if I knew how! I must find out how to host mafia games. I see Mafia like, well in the words of Jessica Benjatscheck and Tha-Da-Werk:

Q. Did you throw a party when you turned 101? How old is that in hippo years btw?Given that hippos live 40 in the wild and 60 in zoos, I reckon I'm doing pretty well at 101. The party was amazing, I thought you were there! Lol, must have been someone who looks like you. That'd explain the strange looks I got!

Q. Do you plan to throw a party when you turn 102? what would the menu be? What games would you have (besides bobbing for crocodiles that is)?Of course I'm throwing a party when I turn 102. It'll be even bigger and better than the last and you can come too! It'll be pretty standard party food (ferns, corn, reeds, grass, fruit, Dispatch CC mods and lots of "water"). There will be games of hunt the mod, bobbing for mods and pin the fern on the mod and lots more besides. Hippos don't eat crocodiles, it's a myth. We are in fact fast friends:

Q. If you were a pokemon what pokemon would you be?That's easy, Hippopotas of course!Actually it was named after me!

Q. The hippo ate what?

My claim to fame was the dwarf, but more recently I have been snapped for eating Sully and I have revealed my plans to get through as many mods as possible at my 102nd! [EDIT: an update on this at the end.]

Q. Any relation?

Mum!

Q.

greenoaks wrote:the hippo ate what ?

This should held clear it up for you:

Click image to enlarge.

While there is no tangible proof as yet, Because the body has not been found or heard from, it is suspected that the Hippo ate Sully as an opportunity for a career advancement.

Hippo; How do you respond to this allegation?

It's the truth with my hand up. Incidentally, the clothes don't fit, does anyone want them or shall I give them to the crocodiles? [EDIT: an update on this at the end.]

Q. So one day, all of the animals came together and made the following deal: Each will tell a joke, and if everyone doesn't laugh at it then they would kill the joke teller.So anyway, the Rabbit went first. The Rabbit told this great joke. All of the animals were laughing hysterically, rolling on the floor and slapping their knees (if they had knees). All that is except for the Hippopotamus.So, what could they do... the Hippo did not laugh. They had to kill the Rabbit. After promptly doing so, they gave the next turn to the lion.The Lion told a really dumb joke, that was not funny at all. All of the animals just sat there and stared, but the Hippo started laughing a tremendous laugh. the animals asked the Hippopotamus: "why are you laughing? the Joke wasn't funny." To which the Hippo replied: "Didn't you get the Rabbit's Joke?"

What was the rabbits joke?

And if we do not all laugh, you know the consequences.

Weren't you there? It was: An Alsatian went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: "Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof." The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: "There are only nine words here. You could send another Woof for the same price." "But," the dog replied, "that would make no sense at all".

Q. I (Viceroy63) understand that in Real Life you have writers that work for you?

Is this true?

If So how did you get started in the business?Ah well, there’s a difference between employing writers and having them work for you! Those lazy sods spend 99% of the day finding ways to skive off, undermine me, sell my belongings and work on their second jobs. Mind you I only pretend to pay them so I can’t expect they’d do any more than pretend to work for me!!

Q. Are you a Student?

Or a Teacher?

Or both?

Everything I learned I learned from myself! Mind you, there’s no proof I learned anything so there’s no evidence of my teaching abilities. Let me see if my breath shows up on the mirror …

Q. What advice would you give an aspiring writer?

Do it. You need to put digits to the keyboard, pen to paper voice to the recorder. However you wanna do it, you just need to get on with it. We all have an innate propensity to be our own harshest critic. By shoving that stuff out there you’d be surprised what the response will be. And, negative response can have its perks – if that’s what you’re seeking (talk to army of nobunaga about that one!).

But to be a successful writer, I recommend writing about something that you are interested in. It doesn’t matter what you think others might think; you know stuff about that that no one else knows. There’s no substitute for that!

The fun part comes when you learn how to get past the mental block. There comes a point when you just run out of puff. Now that’s when you switch from writing stuff to becoming a writer. After that you can write on any topic, whether you are interested in it or not! Experience is the only thing that will push you through. It’s like being born again (I’m thinking this thing not this thing). It takes strenuous effort until you think that you are going to die. And then you don’t.

Q. Why, "TheHippo8"?

Ah, well - “thehippo” was taken and “hippo” was taken and “thehippopotamus” just sounds stupid – so it was down to numbers and “8” is a play on “ate” which is descriptive of what I do when I swallow up my hapless opponent. Probably “thehippogot8en” is more accurate but that’s just really stupid isn’t it. Other than that, it’s my favourite chess opening and the name stuck.

Q. How did you come by that avatar name?

I flogged it.

Q. What exactly is it that you are smoking in that Pipe?

Grass that smells like tobacco - the cheap kind!

It does not smell like cheap tobacco?

Hmmm, really, I was told by the chap who sells it to me that it does!

Q. Do you ever flog them if a dead line is approaching and they still have not finished?

Firstly, you sound like you think flogging is a bad thing. You should read this:

Secondly, do you really think that hippos can hold a flogging whip and use it effectively?

Thirdly, yes. They demand it. Mind you, I suspect with all the laughing that they do it as a kind of reverse humiliation thing. I’m sure one day I’ll get them a beauty and then they’ll be sorry!

Q. If yes, have you ever flashed a teacher for a better grade?

I flashed a teacher once when I was 12. It was, I assure you, purely by accident but my motivation was a better grade. We were experimenting with melting things with a Bunsen burner. I found some batteries, some sulphur from the railway, some pencil lead, a rock and to that I added some acid. The result was a spectacular rocket flume that burnt a hole in the ceiling. Somehow the teacher wasn’t impressed! I was dragged bodily into the corridor and belted – the teacher’s watch fell off and broke and everybody couldn’t stop laughing.

Q. Have you ever been flashed for a better grade?

No.

Q. Have you ever flashed yourself for a better grade?Hmm, that’s a trick question isn’t it!

Q. You are a lawyer, correct? How do you think your being a lawyer affects your work as Foundry Executive and how does your being a lawyer reflect in your work?

Well, I first wrote about copyright stuff cause that was, like, something I knew about. But my writing now is more like someone who cares about the foundry rather than my own ego! At least I hope it is. After some time writing for the foundry, the bigger picture is emerging for me. I guess there is a small cross-over between my professional self and my executorship, but only insofar as I respect the people who assist and write for the foundry. Supporting them is a big function of my existence. I am also very fortunate to have Koontz1973 putting in a huge effort every fortnight to bring us the news of what’s going on in the foundry. As a map-maker of considerable talent, IMHO, he brings a perspective which I can only dream about. I don’t lose sight of the other writers (hello Flapcake, nolefan5311 and OliverFA). I should also give a big thanks to Victor Sullivan who gave me a chance both as a reporter and now as an Executive.

Q. What is your opinion of the Foundry? Are we simply in too deep a rut to climb out, or do you think the Foundry can be 'fixed'? How has your view of the Foundry changed over time, and how has your being Foundry Reporter/Executive changed that over the months/years you've been around?

I think the foundry is brilliant. For those talented enough to use graphics packages it’s an amazing outlet. Being creative graphically is not the same as being sufficiently creative game-play wise. That can be a frustration for people but that isn’t the fault of the foundry. Also, something is only so good as the community is willing to make it. The feedback from the majority of those who post in the foundry is exceedingly insightful and helpful. There’s the odd prat who rambles about nonsense (sorry ) but on the whole – those who are willing to listen and work hard will see the fruits of their labour come to life. Frankly, I know of no other website which contains this amount of creative talent where there is immediate feedback and the ability to grow as a person. The foundry is not in a rut, I believe it is the backbone and strength of this website. Sure there are some developments that have happened for the better, but I believe that thenobodies80, Lackattack and the many other foundry mods have made an amazing effort to dig the foundry out of the so-called rut it was in. As to being ‘fixed’, that isn’t necessary in my view. When I started as a foundry reporter I was very green, I have done nothing but marvel at it ever since!

Welcome to the 73 edition of the Strategy Section of the Conquer Club Newsletter. In this edition we introduce two new columns. Not every column will be seen in every edition but all articles will appear within their respective column. And we are sure to see many editions with the following two columns.

The first one is Classic Secrets! In which we will reveal glimpses of the many keys to successfully navigating and winning the Standard, Escalating, Classic Map that is taught in the SoC. In this issue we discuss, "The Drops!" So don't miss out on "Classic Secrets: The Drops" by me Viceroy63.

And in our 2nd newly created column we have news and reports from "Inside The SoC" so be sure to read the latest from the SoC Universe in "Inside The SoC" by Viceroy63 and Dhallmeyer.

The SoC list of Winners will not be presented in this edition due to changes in qualifications for the list. This is explained more fully in the announcements, "Inside The SoC." The SoC list of Winners will resume when there is a list of qualified SoC student winners to present. Thank You.

Is there such a thing as the “Perfect Drop?” The kind of drop that you can step back from and say, “How could I possibly lose this game, with a drop like this?” Or how's about the reverse? Can there exist the worse possible drop ever, that you just can't possibly win with? What if all of your drops are within the same continent; The same bonus zone? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? To a large degree, the answer lies in the type of game settings involved.

For example, if you were playing Trench Warfare with no spoils then it would be nice to have all of your drops fall inside of the same “BZ” (Bonus Zone) as that would facilitate the conquest of that BZ, which in turn would provide for extra troops in the long run to win the game. In a game with no spoils the conquest of a BZ becomes of paramount importance in the game. But what about the kind of games that we play in the "SoC" (Society of Cooks)? The SoC teaches from the classic escalating gamemap. Does it matter then? Yes it does. A great deal in fact. Only from a very different perspective.

The escalating setting allows for the spoils trade to determine, to a very large degree, who wins the game. But that does not mean that a certain amount of strategy and the initial drops in the game have nothing to say in the matter. In fact the initial drops have a lot to do with who wins but don't always have the final word. It can be likened to a process of elimination that begins with the initial drops, continues with Strategy and Position and finishes off with the finely timed spoils. Being proficient at each step of the way assures you of being ready for the final spoils that will win you the game. It all begins, with the drops.

'SoC Hand Book,' wrote:“Prime territories are places that have lots of connections and few bottlenecks; in an ideal game, you would have a stack in NA, Europe, Africa, and Eastern Asia. Below is our prioritized list of territories, but it is subject to your other placements. You don't want your stacks to be too close together or to hold ALL the prime territories because then you will be an easy target.

This is strictly from an offensive mindset. There will be times when you want to have Buenos Aires or Johannesburg as a defensive stack that is hard to get to for the other players. Also sometimes it is necessary to hold a choke point such as Bangkok, Magadan, or Reykjavik to prevent other players from getting into certain areas where they could make a kill.”

Prime territories are places that have lots of connections and few bottlenecks because they provide more options to attack from. They also make it easier to card because there are so many surrounding regions, so that we have a choice. Tucked away in a corner may provide some safety but not a whole lot of attacking and carding options.

We can't always drop in the "MPT" (Most Prime Territories) available, but we can always strive to be close to one just in case. The point is to be in places that provide us with the most opportunities to card and eventually attack from, while we wait for that perfect set of Spoils to drop in on us.---

In this new column, I will attempt to keep you abreast of any new developments in the SoC Universe. In this issue I would like to present a new thread that I am forming titled, "Debriefing of Game 10775410 W/ ElrictheGreat (with Photos)."

In this SoC thread I shall post a new round from this game every few days. Complete with photos and my own analysis of the game. All comments are welcomed in the thread, even your own views and analysis and even if I am wrong in my analysis, comments on that are especially welcomed. Please enlighten us all. That is the whole point of a debriefing.

The Link below will take you to the SoC forum where this Debriefing is posted. It is a public forum so comment away and enjoy it.

Also from the SoC, A new Training Field class will form on June 11th. and new classes are formed each week. Keep visiting the SoC Forums to stay alert to the latest new classes forming and do not be shy and just sign up. The SoC Training Grounds Forums are located in the General Topics Forums. It's the first on the list.

Special Announcement About The SoC Winners List

We, the Office of Strategic Services and the Society of cooks, would like to make a regular feature of recognizing those students in the SoC who are working hard at mastering the basic skills of Conquer Club Games. In particular those of Standard, Escalating Classic Map games. However, students have to be fully active and posting their games in their respective Training Field to earn this recognition.

The SoC Instructors are volunteers who want to give back to the site and improve the gaming experience for everyone. They are available through the Academy Forum or by PM to anyone seeking help.

Due to an overwhelming response in recent months, the SoC has had to restrict the number of students it takes in. However, this is only a short term situation and should be rectified soon.

Another way the SoC contributes to the quality of games on the site is by creating special "SoC Games." These games are what get used to teach students, but anyone can join them, and the password is usually listed in the game heading.

---

Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!

In this issue, as I promised in the previous issue, I present to you my interview with Night Strike. This begins our new series of Meet the Tournament Directors, to go with our existing series of Meet the Tournament Winners and Meet the Tournament Organizers. Meanwhile, DaveH has produced another excellent article in his Tournament Tips, and WorldCup4James has gone ahead and revived our oldest series, Join This? Or Not!

I should point out that James was too modest to put a plug in for his own tournament, so I will do it for him: check out his 2012 World Cup tournament, successor to his very successful 2010 World Cup and 2011 World Cup, which was voted Best Mid-Sized Tournament of 2011 with a staggering 50% of the vote!

In the last newsletter I showed you how to extract a list of maps that many TO's use in progressing their series of games through every single CC map. Greenoaks reminded me that some TO's also like to keep track of their winners and easily update the number of wins by different players. In this issue therefore, I'll show you the code for updating a tournament winners table.

For simplicity, I'll start off as though the list of individual game winners are in a column on an Excel spreadsheet next to the tournament they won. The first few lines in the macro are to specify a few variables:-

' put 1 in the next column and find out how many are listed For i = 3 To 100 'the start row number is 3; 100 assumed to be larger than the last row Aname = Cells(i, 2).Value 'Aname will have the value in cell(3,2) If Aname <> "" Then ' If a player name Cells(i, 3).Value = 1 'put 1 next to the player's name itotal = itotal + 1 'increase the number in the list Else i = 100 'if the cell is blank we are at the end of the list and can end End If Next i

Sub SortWins()Dim i, j, itotal As Integer ' itotal will be the total number in the tableDim Aname, Bname As String 'Aname and Bname will contain the player's namesitotal = 0' put 1 in the next column and find out how many are listed For i = 3 To 100 'the start row number is 3; 100 assumed to be larger than the last row Aname = Cells(i, 2).Value 'Aname will have the value in cell(3,2) If Aname <> "" Then ' If a player name Cells(i, 3).Value = 1 'put 1 next to the player's name itotal = itotal + 1 'increase the number in the list Else i = 100 'if the cell is blank we are at the end of the list and can end End If Next i' sort by winners name Range(Cells(3, 1), Cells(2 + itotal, 3)).Select Selection.Sort Key1:=Range("B3"), Order1:=xlAscending j = 1 'assume duplicates exist While j > 0 j = 0 'no duplicates yet For i = 1 To itotal - 1 Aname = Cells(i + 2, 2) '1st player's name Bname = Cells(i + 3, 2) '2nd player's name If Aname = Bname Then 'if they are the same... j = j + 1 'increment duplicate counter Cells(i + 2, 3) = Cells(i + 2, 3) + Cells(i + 3, 3) 'add the scores Cells(i + 3, 2) = "" 'delete the second player's name Cells(i + 3, 3) = "" 'delete the second score Cells(i + 2, 1) = Cells(i + 2, 1) & ", " & Cells(i + 3, 1) Cells(i + 3, 1) = "" itotal = itotal - 1 'reduce total in the table End If Next i Range(Cells(3, 1), Cells(3 + itotal + j, 3)).Select 'sort from the top left cell to the bottom right cell Selection.Sort Key1:=Range("B3"), Order1:=xlAscending 'sort by player's namesWend Range(Cells(3, 1), Cells(3 + itotal, 3)).Select 'specify the area for the sort Selection.Sort Key1:=Range("C3"), Order1:=xlDescending 'specify a descending sort based on the score End Sub

If you can't remember from previous articles how to put this macro into a button on your spreadsheet you need to do the following in your spreadsheet:-

select Tools/Customize

scroll down to forms and select "button" and close

click the button that now appears on your menu bar

draw a button shape on your spreadsheet

Click on your macro name to assign it to the button

Done!

(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are many different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to!)

He's been a CC player since April of 2007 and a Team CC member since March of 2008. He's active in every area of CC -- games, forums, volunteer work, clans and of course tournaments. Night Strike is quite likely one of the ten best-known names on the site. He has 60 medals in various areas, but the really impressive statistic is that 13 of them are General Contribution medals given for volunteer efforts.

Among other things, Night Strike held my current job, as Tournament Executive on the newsletter, not once but twice, in the summer of 2009 and again through the first half of 2010. He's been a global mod and a chat mod, but to most of us he is known as the Tournament Commissioner, Team Leader over all the Tournament Directors.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

You've been a CC member for more than five years, and a Team CC volunteer for more than four. First, let me start out by focusing on your current position. How long have you been Tournament Commissioner?

Steelhorse was the Tournament Team Leader for several years, including when both Optimus Prime and later myself were added to the group. After OP became an admin, he asked if I would take over the tournament reigns during a Team CC restructuring because Steelhorse needed to cut back on some of his time on the site. At that time, I dropped my other responsibilities on the site (global mod, including chat mod) and focused on leading the TD group. I chose the "Tournament Commissioner" title because a commissioner is someone who oversees all the competition in his sports league, which I felt was an apt description of my position.

That's a nice place to be, independent enough that you get to write your own job title. To what degree have you also written your own job description? Did you make significant changes after taking over?

Every Team Leader can structure their department as they choose, so they can require as little or as much as they want from themselves and each group member, depending on the structure they choose. For tournaments, I've chosen to focus on administrative duties of the group and allow the other group members to work on the specific day-to-day tasks of recording things like new tournaments and winners. This allows me to be available to assist with a task if a director goes on vacation or disappears for some reason, which allows the team to still flow during an absence. I don't think I would classify the changes as significant: it was just a different way to allocate tasks.

What are some of the challenges you face? You've gone through quite a few personnel changes in the last few months. Has it been difficult to work through re-assigning tasks and training everyone?

The main difficulty is making sure that no one person is stuck doing too many tasks or too many time-consuming tasks. I also try to spread things out enough so that if one person is on vacation or leaves suddenly, they aren't doing too many tasks that it is hard to spread their tasks around to other people. The main challenge as a Team Leader is training. It's time consuming to convey training instructions over the internet, but there are a lot of tools in both forum moderation and tournament administration that have to be properly taught in order for a person to do their tasks successfully.

I have noticed that things have been getting done more quickly since your team was expanded. Is the system where you want it to be now, or is there still a need for improvement?

As long as tasks are getting done in a timely matter, it doesn't matter to me how fast it happens. In fact, sometimes I don't want people to go too fast because I either don't want them to burn out or I don't want the public to be expecting that speed if someone else takes over the task. Whether a person does their task by doing a smaller amount a couple times a day or by doing a larger amount once a day, it ultimately doesn't matter to me. All I ask from my team members (and myself) is that tasks get done in a timely manner or that the person informs the rest of the group if they will be unable to temporarily do the task so I can make sure it's covered.

You're also the final arbiter of disputes in the tournament world. How often does an issue arise that requires your intervention?

I get small issues a couple times a week and big issues on occasion. Most of the small issues are just misunderstandings between players and organizers or someone misunderstanding the tournament rules. A simple clarification tends to suffice. Other times, the serious issues draw on for a while, even after a decision has been made, simply because someone disagrees with the decision. Or a small issue becomes a bigger one because one of the people involved doesn't really know English (and I don't really know other languages). I've only had to wield the big stick of threatening to revoke tournament privileges a couple of times, which I'm thankful for. Of course, the biggest issues involve discussions with other TDs, so although I make the final decision, it's not without consultation.

Are there some decisions where you find yourself really torn, where you really face some doubts as to what is right and wrong?

Like I mentioned, most issues are cut and dry and just require a simple explanation. The harder cases tend to be when not all the facts are available, there is a language barrier, or someone just doesn't like the ruling and wishes to argue to no end. For the cases that appear to be harder, I tend to already have an idea of what happened (and how I will rule), but I want to make sure I gather as many facts as possible before making a decision. I've found that most of the easy cases end up ruling in the favor of the organizer (unless it's the organizer trying to run a tournament that doesn't meet the requirements) and that the harder cases tend to be a split between whether the player or the organizer is correct.

You were around the tournament world long before you became Commissioner. Give me some insight into how CC tournaments evolved, please, and what were some of your early experiences.

CC Tournaments have completely exploded in popularity during my time, especially since tournament medals were added. However, this explosion has gone in two completely separate directions at the same time. We now have many tournaments that are bigger and more elaborate than anything we used to have (plus all the big multi-tournament events). We also now have an explosion in cookie-cutter medal-hunting tournaments where even experienced organizers will run the bare minimum requirements in their tournaments, typically to maximize the ability to earn both an organizer and winner medal in the same tournament. It used to be an extremely rare event when an organizer won their own tournament, but now it happens extremely frequently because of the repetition in tournaments and organizers optimizing their tournaments to help themselves.

Do you think this is simply an inevitable trend that we have to get used to, or can something be done about it? Would you agree to any rule changes, such as limitations on TOs playing in their own tournaments? Also, would you support some kind of medal gradient, such as perhaps Bronze, Silver, Gold medals for tournaments of a certain complexity?

Limitations on organizers playing in their own tournaments has been mentioned, but that avenue has not been seriously discussed at this point. I think the idea has merit, but there would be some difficulty in coming up with a line of where it would be acceptable and where it would not be acceptable as well as difficulties in implementing the rule, so it hasn't had much traction up to this point. The different color medals for different complexities appears to be too arbitrary to decide on for each tournament and there is too much variety to come up with set formulas for determinations. The idea seems too complicated and too time-consuming at this point to be a viable option.

And now for our somewhat frequent analysis of the newest, fresh-off-the-press Tournaments available for signups,

School's Out For Summer 2012Another summer season is upon us, and that means another go at Night Strike's annual School's Out For Summer. There's around thirty spots still available so kick off your well-earned (or not so? ) break, students, by playing on an array of CC's finest geography maps as you seek out that perfect vacation!

Queen's Diamond Jubilee"God Save the Queen" is the theme behind the tournament of one of CC's newest organizers, andyf23. Time is running out to sign up for his British Isles 1v1 tournament: Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Vampires VS Werewolves 3: AfricaStruggle to stay alive in jpcloet's Vampires VS Werewolves 3 Africa. This frenzy pits three classes of creatures, Vampires, Werewolves, and Humans, in Terminator games, and each round varies based on creative rule designing such that, ultimately, only one can survive and claim victory.

If you're craving tourney action now, check out the Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum. You can be playing very quickly after signing up as a reserve.

Well I don't know about you, but I'm excited to have Sully back. Refer my interview if you want to know what the problem was!

This issue brings us another episode in koontz1973's continuing story of the ever-changing foundry. Lots and lots and lots and lots!! Meanwhile I take a look at the weekend that was. What did you celebrate? Was it Memorial Day, Queen's Birthday, did you commemmorate the first American to space-walk or was there something else for you?

Now, your mission if you will accept it, is to get into the foundry and start that idea, comment on that idea or show that you have no idea. Whatever you choose, remember the sage words of Abraham Lincoln:

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Drafting RoomMedievil Britain by The Bison KingOur Local Galactic Group by Bolar.France 2.0 by Lancelot du Lac Main FoundryGame play sectionGreek Games by koontz1973Classic Cities-Moscow by cairnswkStruggle for Oil: Central Asia 2020 by pamoa.Spanish Amarda by cairnswk.Mississippi by VicFontaineConquership by lostalimbo.Marooned by ManBungalowGraphics sectionMagyarország by koontz1973 Classic Cities Sydney by cairnswk.Philadelphia by RedBaron0Final ForgeThis section is getting a little busy with a lot of maps ready for play. With the 13 maps in beta play we have 8 maps waiting to get going.With xml stamps.North America revamp by natty dread.Waiting for the xml.Clash of Kings by DiMJakater by koontz1973Knights and Warlocks by DiM.Copenhagen, also by Flapcake.Pirates and Merchants by DiM.Slovakia, also by DiM.New Jersey by chaos32679Classic Cities:Pot Mosbi by cairnswk.

The 3rd of June seems like an innocuous little day but history sure has packed a lot into it!!

Memorial Day

The Wikipedia Article about Memorial Day notes that, like most traditions, the current date of celebration wasn’t the first and even the name has changed. Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day and arose from the efforts of the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia. This was 1865 and as April 26 was the date Confederate General Johnston's final surrender to General Sherman (at Bennett Place, North Carolina) that was the date for the commemoration. The festivities were adopted throughout the United States by 1868 and the official date was changed to 30 May. Late May is better for flower blooming and made for a more inclusive universal celebration, or at least that was the hope. It was commemorated on a number of other dates too, check out the chart in this Wikipedia Article. Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee settled on 3 June in honour of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis – as that was his birthday. It was also known there as Confederate Memorial Day or as Confederate Decoration Day in Tennessee. It was even known as Confederate Heroes Day in Texas but celebrated on 19 January after the commemoration was joined with the birth date of General Lee. It wasn’t until 1967 before Memorial Day was officially decreed as the name and it was not until 1971 before the current date was settled on (to make a 3 day weekend). Anyway, back to President Davis – he presided over the Confederate States throughout the American Civil War. His life story makes for interesting reading. He dabbled in politics, slaves and had something of a military career. Until the attempt by the South to annex from the Union, he was Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. But with South Carolina passing an ordinance of succession Davis resigned and went back to Mississippi. He was voted in as the Confederate President but was well aware of the inferiority in military terms of the South and he sought diplomatic means of resolution. But there was no resolution forthcoming and the Civil War broke out. There were a number of strategic errors leading eventuially to the disbanding of the Confederacy. President Davis was charged with treason and stripped of public life. Davis continued thereafter to “wave the flag” for the Confederate cause and to this day is seen as a symbolic representation of Confederate defiance, some even saw him as a hero. These days his racism, ardent interest in slavery and general demeanour would never see him hit the public stage, save perhaps to champion the weirdness of a loony fringe, but that was a different time.

Now I hear a resounding, this is all very interesting but what’s it got to do with us? A fair enough question. Well, we do have An American Civil War map that has been quenched:

Click image to enlarge.

And there was a map centred on the Gettysberg Battle itself, but it never got finished:

Click image to enlarge.

And finally, there is talk about another attempt to get a Gettysberg Map up and cracking. So this June celebrate American Heritage by playing on the Civil War map and get into the foundry to encourage Thesamuri to get his map done.

Queen Elizabeth

It’s all rah-rah, pompety-pomp, cups of tea, trooping the colours, medals, awards and how-do-you-do. Yes, it’s Queen’s Birthday weekend. The Queen reigns over the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon directly as sovereign and Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, which are all now republics. The commemoration date used to change whenever the Monarch changed, but after George V (born 3 June 2012) New Zealand kept the commemoration to the first Monday in June. Australia has it as the second Monday in June (not sure why!) – along with the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. In the UK it’s the first, second or third Monday in June, to fit in with other events. In Canada it’s the last Monday before the 25th of May. The tradition of commemorating the Monarch has been around since 1768 so it’s pretty ingrained!

The Commonwealth is well represented in CC. But there are some important gaps. The most obvious one is New Zealand:

There isn’t a day in the calendar which isn’t rich with history and meaning and the 3rd of June is no exception. Here’s a few important events, and one of which could inspire you budding map makers into action:

1326 – Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.

Click image to enlarge.

1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.

1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.

Click image to enlarge.

1965 – Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Crew-member Ed White performs the first American spacewalk.

1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

Click image to enlarge.

2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

Click image to enlarge.

So maybe you used your long weekend to make a start on creating that map? If so, brilliant stuff! You will get that Map Medal after all!

We have our Monthly release of the latest F400 ranking with LHDD (courtesy of newcomers cup 2 final placing), and OSA (courtesy of their extreme activity) being the big climbers this week. Tofu's line-up has also pushed them up a spot, although they seemingly remain winless over top 10 opposition.

QS also gives us a wrap-up of the latest from the Conquerors Cup, with insights, opinions and reviews on the first round of clashes

Here's the recap of the round of 32 clans. Some wars are finished, some haven't start yet. The CC3 have just start and everyone are very exciting about seeing who's gonna make it to the top. Everyone think they might have a chance, but KoRT winning it twice are the big favorite for winning this one. Can they make it again? We'll see!

0 vs. 0 This war haven't start yet but KoRT is the favorite for winning this with a big advance.

4 vs. 4 Both clan are good and can win this war, should be a close one.

16 vs. 13 OSA got the lead so far, but a small one. This war should be tight.

13 vs. 24 No surprise here to see FOED advance to the next round. FOED are good and they should move on also the the round of 8. Facing OSA or PIG next round.

4 vs. 0 This war have just start, TOFU got the lead so far. But this doesn't really mean anything so far. However I think TOFU might move on the the next round.

24 vs. 15 This war is now finish and Optisani beats TFFS. Both clan fought well, but Optisani got the momentum and move on!

22 vs. 18 ID beats the french guys in a close battle. LHDD completely dominated doubles games, but that wans't enough agains't ID who win almost every Triples Games.

4 vs. 11 PACK should get on to that lead and win this war. PACK is one hell of a clan who wins their first 9 war, so they know how to win!

0 vs. 0 Sorry TLW, but even if that war haven't start yet, I don't think the last CC2 finalist doesn't want to go that far again. I think TSM are more than ever motivated in this tournament.

19 vs. 17 MD is a very good new clan. They just loose in NC2 semi-final against LHDD by one little game and prove they need to be taken seriously. They just need 2 more wins. However KOA can still win this war so don't cool down, that's a war baby!

0 vs. 0 AFOS count a lot of member and they are very good. TNC got some very good players in their line-up. This war should be very interesting.

8 vs. 9 Still very close, this war should be won by a game or so. Both clan are good and anything can happen, I'll look forward to it!

24 vs. 11 AKA got ass kicked from EMP. They are both good clan, but EMP a little too good at that moment. EMP should at least go to the semi-finals, maybe another against TSM?

11 vs. 6 MYTH got a little lead and if they continue like that they'll go up against EMP. This war is not finish yet, BPB might have a chance!

0 vs. 0 This war will begin soon and should be very interesting to watch. Both good clans, should be tight!

What does it mean to be a moderator? Well funny you should ask that. I will provide you with three definitions of a moderator from three different websites and you can tell me what you think a moderator should be and what some of the moderators on CC actually are.

Wikipedia:

The mods are users of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion and also keeping the forum clean. Common privileges of moderators include: deleting, merging, moving, and splitting of posts and threads, locking, renaming, stickying of threads, banning, suspending, unsuspending, unbanning, warning the members, or adding, editing, removing the polls of threads. Essentially, it is the duty of the moderator to manage the day-to-day affairs of a forum or board as it applies to the stream of user contributions and interactions. The relative effectiveness of this user management directly impacts the quality of a forum in general, its appeal, and its usefulness as a community of interrelated users.

Urban Dictionary:

Someone who moderates a chatroom or message board. There are generally five types of moderators:

1. Asswipe: Moderator that likes to punish members for little or no reason, harasses members and then punishes them for harassing back or questioning them, or is an asshole in general to those around him, not including his suckup friends, who will respond to his powerabuse with: "lol", "pwned bitch", or "wut a [censored]".

2. Strict Moderator: Follows the rules by the book, no exceptions. Any rule infraction spotted will be punished, often without warning. Normally dreaded.

3. Do-Nothing Moderator: Moderator that acts more like a member than a moderator, only intervening in serious matters that require mod attention. Usually ignores rule infractions for fear of angering the administrator or stricter moderators. Usually friendly.

4. Badass: Best moderator there is. They are fair, and will usually joke around and let things go if the intention of the rule infraction was not fitting with the reason the rule was created. However, if someone is being a total idiot, especially flaming, they will proceed to argue with them for the sole purpose of getting them to make a fool of themselves, often to the point of losing their cool and posting a last "FUK U ALL!!!!!" message, at which point there is much lulz and the nooblet gets b&.

5. Nutcase: Moderator that not only rarely enforces rules, but often breaks them themselves in the name of fun, or sometimes just out of boredom. Usually doesn't have modship for long, or is constantly scolded by other mods or the admin.

Encyclopedia Dramatica:

In the world of Internet forums and messageboards, mods are the equivalent of policemen. In fact, the only difference is that they have no real authority except over their [censored] ass web sites. Ranking somewhere below administrators, they are assigned the task of ensuring the rules of the forum that they "moderate" are rigidly adhered to by the rank-and-file board membership while at the same time willfully ignoring these rules themselves. Given special powers by the board's administrators to assist them in this endeavor, it is common for these powers to be abused at a whim, and when the inevitable howls of protest follow, to use these same powers to silence dissent. In a nutshell, moderators partake in intense [censored].

There are a variety of tools that a moderator can employ in order to carry out his or her duties efficiently. These range from the basic (editing of posts, maybe even deleting of posts) to the advanced (locking of threads).These powers are there to be routinely abused; for example, a thread can be locked yet some moderators will still post on it regardless, denying a basic right of reply to the OP or the poster who apparently caused the thread to be locked in the first place.

As a result, moderators are often some of the worst internet trolls, which doesn't stop them from accusing others of trolling at every opportunity. Should a moderator start losing an argument on a thread, they will often use the aforementioned powers, in order to attempt to beat a dignified retreat. Either that, or go running to the admin.

TL;DR:

Replace "Wikipedia" with whatever forum they moderate and this is what moderators actually believe.

TheGeneral2112Community Member

And just when I thought there was no getting that one in the dispatch, it appears. VS is a pro.

1) "Bogrolling": was a term introduced to replace FARMING. Farming is playing UNRANKED NEW RECRUITS. I don't do that.2) "apparent oral sex enthusiast": refers to Gen.LeeGettinhed. If I was that, wouldn't my ID be GenerallyGettingHead?

Now on another point, isn't "sex enthusiast" sort of . . .repetitive, since MOST people are enthusiastic about sex?

GLG. . . . . .(turned in as Flaming)

Then, is Sulli an editor or a gossip columnist? NORMALLY editors are unbiased (no way with him) and gossip and editorials pocketed off of page 1. Not very professional, Sulli. Finally, I'd think that CC Org leaders (Sulli) ought to be held to a higher standard (listening Night Strike?) than players.

I think you're overreacting, GLG, 'twas in jest. And I'm not technically a Team Leader, so your last point is moot.

Frankly, GLG, I think you just look for ways to complain and accuse. I can't stop you, but I will say that it would make your CC experience more enjoyable if you just relaxed. And besides, I don't think there's anything I can say that will change people's opinions of you. Only you can do that.

Victor Sullivan wrote:I think you're overreacting, GLG, 'twas in jest. And I'm not technically a Team Leader, so your last point is moot.

Frankly, GLG, I think you just look for ways to complain and accuse. I can't stop you, but I will say that it would make your CC experience more enjoyable if you just relaxed. And besides, I don't think there's anything I can say that will change people's opinions of you. Only you can do that.